Legal issues focus of event at Albany Law School

Senior citizens listen to Timothy Casserly, principal attorney at Burke & Casserly, P.C., (not in photo) during the 19th Senior Citizens’ Law Day, held Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, at Albany Law School in Albany, N.Y.
J.S.CARRAS - THE RECORD

Timothy Casserly, principal attorney at Burke & Casserly, P.C., addresses the crowd during the 19th Senior Citizens’ Law Day, held Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, at Albany Law School in Albany, N.Y.
J.S.CARRAS - THE RECORD

ALBANY >> Seniors were thrilled with the free legal help they received during Albany Law School’s Senior Citizens’ Law Day on Saturday with many attending as a repeat consumer.

The program, hosted by the law school’s Pro Bono Program, provided seniors with free legal advice for things such as wills, estates and also Medicaid questions.

Nic Rangel, a post-gradutate pro bono fellow, said the school, much like the New York State Bar Association, was looking to bridge a justice gap. It is the 19th year the school has hosted the event.

“It’s providing legal services to those who need it most,” Rangel said. “We’re doing it in a way that’s community based and student led.”

The majority of the 45 volunteers on hand to help seniors navigate the program were students, which allowed them to count hours toward their pro bono requirements. Many of those students participated in organizing and fundraising for the event as it was the first year the Pro Bono program had hosted the event.

Ruth H., who came from Great Barrington, Mass., for her fourth time at the event, was very thankful the school offered such a program for seniors as she said she has received great information and help in the past. Ruth said she and her husband first came to help her parents handle their affairs. Now, she said she has come to learn about things such as power of attorney and wills.

“It’s great,” Ruth said. “It’s informative and very well organized. They have great written material for you to refer to.”

The event has been able to put some fears held by seniors to rest thanks to many of the pro bono sessions where they can meet one on one with attorneys, according to Rangel. There are also several workshops available to seniors where those in the legal world help explain complicated items.

One of those offered was regarding the Affordable Care Act in which Albany Law School Professor David Pratt and Jim Lytle, a practitioner in health law, went through and explained the details of the new healthcare exchange, which people began enrolling in earlier this month.

While they explained there were some things wrong with ACA, mostly the failure of the website, they also highlighted its benefits such as spelling out exactly what the healthcare coverages provide and eliminating the denial of patients with preexisting conditions.

“If it did nothing else, it allows people to shop intelligently,” Lytle said.

Pratt explained the law should be able to close the “donut hole” in Medicare coverage for prescription drugs, which he said almost provided no benefit.

“Eventually, in 2020, the donut hole goes away,” Pratt said, adding drug companies are currently forced by ACA to offer discounts on some drugs.

People such as Beatrice Bopp, of Loudonville, who was brought to the event by her friend Regina Dew, of North Albany, said she learned a lot from the workshops.

“I’ve been very impressed,” Bopp said. “They explain things but they’re not talking down to you. They want you to learn and there is room for questions.”

This year was Dew’s fifth time attending the event where she said she was constantly learning new things, such as learning to prevent identify theft, and will bring that information back to her friends.

“The young law students are doing a great service to seniors who come when we need help really badly,” Dew said.

Rangel said those moments are the crux of the event, as it tries to give seniors the legal help they need.

“A lot of people don’t have access to an affordable attorney or know where to find an attorney for legal issues,” Rangel said. “We want to serve as a place where seniors can learn how to find attorneys to help with legal matters.”